Could Woolworths be set to return to Hemel Hempstead after former boss makes admission?

Published:15:40Monday 24 April 2017

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Retailer collapsed in 2008 after racking up debts of £400m but former boss plans to resurrect brand.

Woolworths, which had a store in Marlowes in Hemel town centre - which is now a B&M Store - could be set to make a comeback to the British high street almost 10 years since the retailer shut its doors after collapsing.

The old Woolworths store at Marlowes

Tony Page, the company’s former managing director, said he has approached shopping giant Shop Direct, which owns the Woolworths brand, to repurchase the name in a bid of launching a series of stores.

“I am still emotionally attached to it,” he told the Daily Star.

“I still think it has got a role in the future. I have contacted Shop Direct and said ‘you’re not using the brand any more, would you consider giving it to someone who would?’”

Page added that he felt the stores would still be a ‘physical retailer’.

The old Woolworths store at Marlowes

“I feel as though if the brand name was available it would still be a possibility to bring it back [to high streets],” he said.

“I still absolutely think it would still be a physical retailer. I would want it to be much more a part of the community. The stores that really used to do well were those that were at the heart of the community, rather than being in the big shopping centres.”

Woolworths entered administration late in 2008 after racking up almost £400m in debt, with administrators Deloitte closing all the 807 stores between 27 December 2008 and 6 January 2009, which resulted in 27,000 job losses. Shop Direct purchased the name a month later and continued to operate Woolworths website until it closed down in 2015.